Thursday, June 12, 2008

"12/06/2008 U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed hope Wednesday that France would deliver the right messages to Syrian President Bashar Assad on the situation in Lebanon and the indirect peace talks with Israel. Rice was commenting on French President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to send envoys to Damascus and invite Assad to Paris for a Mediterranean summit.

She said she assumed the messages to Assad would include "taking advantage of the indirect peace talks with Israel brokered by Turkey and living up to Damascus' obligations under Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1701 which urge it not to interfere in Beirut's internal affairs, to demarcate its border with Lebanon and establish diplomatic relations with it."

The messages should also focus on the need for Syria to "be supportive of the efforts that the Palestinians and the Israelis are undertaking to try to find a two-state solution" to end their decades-long conflict.

Rice made the comments on her plane heading to the French capital for a donors conference on Afghanistan."